The present disclose generally relates to a load-carrying bed system and construction for a vehicle, and more particularly to an improved load-carrying bed system and construction having a headboard member secured to portions of the vehicle's frame disposed along lateral sides of the vehicle.
Vehicles having load-carrying beds (e.g., pickup trucks) are commonly used to facilitate transportation of cargo items from one location to another, such as through placement of cargo items in the bed. While vehicles with load-carrying beds are available in many sizes and configurations, a typical load-carrying bed vehicle includes a truck bed having a cargo carrying floor that can support cargo, such as lumber, rocks, groceries and/or other items. A typical truck bed also includes side walls to help restrain cargo within the bed. In many conventional truck beds, the cargo carrying floor and side walls are integrally provided, and can for example be formed as a single steel assembly and/or provided as a single plastic bed liner assembly.
A typical truck bed can further include a headboard structure. The headboard structure is a generally rectangular structure having a plurality of mounting apertures. The headboard structure is fastened to a forward wall via a plurality of fasteners, which can extend into the passenger compartment when the forward wall is a separating wall between the bed and the passenger compartment. While this type of headboard structure adds to the strength of the forward wall, the headboard structure, by itself, only partially resists the cargo impact forces.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved bed system that is relatively simply to install and functions adequately to support cargo within a truck bed in the event of a collision.